Je vous souhaite des rêves à n'en plus finirAfter Leopold's death, the poem (today very well known) was found among his papers. The King's wife, Princess Lilian, long kept it safe in her purse, among her most precious documents.
et l'envie furieuse d'en réaliser quelques-uns.
Je vous souhaite d'aimer ce qu'il faut aimer
et d'oublier ce qu'il faut oublier.
Je vous souhaite des passions,
je vous souhaites des silences.
Je vous souhaite des chants d'oiseau au réveil
et des rêves d'enfants.
Je vous souhaite de résister à l'enlisement, à l'indifférence,
aux vertus négatives de notre époque.
Je vous souhaite surtout d'être vous...
On a related note, Leopold's daughter, Marie-Esmeralda, mentions in her memoirs that the King, for his part, also enjoyed translating and composing poetry. Unfortunately, though, I have never come across any of his work.
A translation of the poem:
ReplyDelete"I wish you dreams to never end,
And the furious desire to realise a few.
I wish you to love what ought to be loved and to forget what ought to be forgotten.
I wish you passions, I wish you silences.
I wish you songs of birds on your waking, and children's dreams.
I wish you to resist the stalemate, the indifference, the negative virtues of our age.
I wish you, above all, to be yourself."
Another interesting post. I love reading about royalty I know so little about...
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